Double Bio On 50 And Pac Coming To Stores

"Born Gangsta" an unauthorized glimpse into the lives of rap stars Tupac Shakur and 50 Cent, will hit bookstores soon. According to co-author Anthony Thomas, the book points out parallels and contrasts between the two rappers careers and their impact on American culture. "I wanted to bring up the point that both men rose to […]

"Born Gangsta" an unauthorized glimpse

into the lives of rap stars Tupac Shakur and 50 Cent, will hit bookstores soon.

According to co-author Anthony Thomas, the book

points out parallels and contrasts between the two rappers careers and their

impact on American culture.

"I wanted to bring up the point that both

men rose to stardom from poverty in a short time," Thomas told AllHipHop.com.

"They both had their rivalries, Ja-Rule and 50, Pac and B.I.G. 50 getting

shot nine times, the guy narrowly escaped death as did PAC when he was shot

in a Manhattan recording studio."

Tupac’s posthumous albums have generated around

$60 million for his estate, while 50 Cent went from being an underground artist

giving his material to bootleggers, to being worth an estimated $18 million

dollars in one year.

"We went to the bootleggers on Canal Street

in New York and asked how many tapes 50 put out. Those guys on Canal, who are

mostly African, wouldn’t discuss how much money they made and they never smile.

When we mentioned 50’s name they actually cracked smiles, implying that the

guy made them a lot of money."

Thomas said they he and his co-author reached

out to 50 and Pac’s respective camps for comments, but found they were stonewalled.

"We reached out to 50 and PAC’s people,

but being a small company it’s hard to get to the artists and get a representation

of their side," Thomas said.

Thomas said that in writing the book, they reached

out to various people who knew 50 Cent, including people from his neighborhood,

various mixtape DJ’s and the bootleggers themselves.

The book also features an in depth analysis as

to why Tupac, 50 Cent, Eminem and others are constantly being criticized by

conservative news commentators.

"It’s not just the rappers responsibility,"

Thomas continued. "It’s the media, the record companies and the artists.

Artists and the record labels can put out music that doesn’t always have to

be violent."

Currently, the publishers are in negotiations

with various bookstores, including Barnes & Nobles to carry the book. The

book is expected to hit chains nationwide sometime in the spring.